Strootman
Louis van Gaal has made Kevin Strootman a £30m January target for Manchester United, and the midfielder would be open to the move should Roma
consider it, though there is yet to be any official contact between the clubs.
The Dutchman is recovering from a serious knee injury that has ruled him of Van Gaal’s Holland squad for theWorld Cup in Brazil, with the 24-year- old not expected to play again until the autumn.
While Strootman is content at Roma and has four years left on the contract he signed last summer, he is aware of Van Gaal’s admiration, with the 62- year-old having selected him regularly for the
national squad.
However Strootman’s agent, Chiel Dekker, insisted that only if Roma were minded to sell would the transfer potentially occur.
“He won’t be back playing until autumn – that’s the time schedule at the moment,” Dekker told the Guardian. “He is of interest to Louis van Gaal but not related to Manchester United at this point.”
Dekker admitted Strootman, who has been injured since March, might be of interest to Van Gaal in the future. “Could be. But he’s in Rome and he had a terrific season,” Dekker said. “There has been nothing between the clubs or between Louis and Kevin – they know each other and like each other but at this stage its not related to Man United.
“Roma do not want to sell. The first thing is its all between [the] clubs. And its also a very difficult decision because he has to choose between a fantastic club in Rome, a club that bought him and supported him while he was injured and [then] you have his personal coach of the national team at United.
“The clubs have to decide. He’s very happy at Rome, he’s happy to stay because they play Champions League next season, and happy to recover his injury, so at this stage we are not part
of any discussion.”
Asked what type of midfielder Strootman is, Dekker said: “He’s all – so he’s creative he’s box-to-box, he scored nine goals [last season] as a midfielder.”
Strootman, who made 24 Serie A starts and returned 5 strikes in the league before the injury which he suffered in a match with Napoli, previously played for PSV Eindhoven before the transfer to Roma for around €20m.
Having previously played for Utrecht and Sparta Rotterdam, Strootman has 25 Netherlands caps and three goals.{Guardian}
